It was like Caroline was standing in the milky way, surrounded by more stars than she could count. The stars moved unnaturally; up, down, sometimes side ways. It was quiet, as if the entire universe was holding it’s breath. She stood there, waiting.

One of the stars came near her, growing larger and brighter, until finally it took on a human form. It walked to her, it’s bright lines sharpening as it got closer.

The star was a man. He had wild, dark blond hair down to his shoulders and a face that was a little too narrow and weak jawed. His face was very much on the ordinary side of plain. But his narrow eyes were a piercing blue, like a clear sky. He wore plated armor mixed with heavy leather. On his breast plate was an elaborate etching of a Hawk Dragon.

“Good evening Travis, it’s been a while. Or should I say Emperor Travis?”

“Ah,” Travis raised an eyebrow. “So you’ve finally figured me out, have you? What gave it away?”

Caroline tapped her chest.

“Of course, the insignia.”

“Yep. Met a Dragon Mage and some Hawk Dragons a while back and they talked about you.”

His thin lips quirked up. “So they still talk about me after all this time…”

“Didn’t you know?”

“They never needed me to watch over them, so I’ve never bothered snooping.”

“Right…” She nodded and then shuffled her feet. She had to ask, even though she pretty much knew the answer already, “How… how are things on your side?”

“We’re barely holding the line,” Travis’ face was grim. “The fissures are multiplying too quickly. We’ve already found several leaks after the fact. Soon, there will be a full blown break through and we won’t be able to do anything about it.”

“Yes, I experienced one of those “leaks” first hand.” She frowned and ran her fingers through her hair. “How much time do you think I have left?”

“Hm… a few more months, maybe. I can’t be certain. And you?”

Caroline moved her arm, as if pulling something out of an invisible bag, and a crown appeared in her hands. It was shaped like roman laurel and made of gold and silver. There were seven gems set in it, and six of them burned brightly with an inner fire. But the last one was dark, black, and dead.

“So you’re down to one. Excellent!”

“Yep. The ruins that got cursed by that leak got me the sixth.” She wrinkled her nose. “I’m kind of worried. Each light is progressively harder to get, and those ruins almost killed me. What am I suppose to do to get the seventh? You don’t think I’m suppose to actually die, do you?”

“I doubt it. That’d be counter productive.”

She looked relieved. “I thought so too but… well, hearing someone with experience say it makes me feel better.”

“Let’s hope the next trial is soon. I’m too old to do this kind of thing, I should be retired! And I’ve barely been able to visit my decedents and give them guidance. The child they named after me almost didn’t send out reinforcements, can you believe it? I had to give him nightmares for a week straight and then haul the Church Patriarch over.”

“Taking after his old man, is he?” She teased.

“You’ve no idea! He’s been a handful since he was born.” Emperor Travis gave a cheeky grin, clearly more proud than upset, despite his complaining.

“I wish I could say I’ll get to the final trial soon but I don’t know… the last one really set me back.” Her eyebrows scrunched together worriedly. “I’m still recovering. And then my husband, that guy… I really didn’t know he could be that clingy! When did he get so over-protective? And he keeps thinking it’s my fault, that I’m the irresponsible one! Who decided this was a good idea to begin with, huh? Who?!”

Travis chuckled. “Now, now… Give the guy a break. He’s just afraid of losing you. And that’s a perfectly reasonable fear to have considering. I remember when my wife died. A part of me went with her. I wandered around for a year mourning before they found me and dragged me back. I understand how he feels.”

“If you put it that way…” She grumbled, immediately giving in, and then paused. “Mourning for a year, huh? You really are a family man through and through, aren’t you? I bet your story would be a best seller! Better than those boring histories my husband keeps in his library anyway.”

He laughed. “You think so? Other than at the beginning, my life wasn’t that extraordinary. I’m sure people would be disappointed with the ending. Very boring, very ordinary. Death by old age. No heroics or great adventures. Just quietly passing in the night.”

“Ha! And how old were you exactly when you died?”

Travis scratched his chin, a slight twinkle in his eye. “No matter what you say, it was ordinary. And anyway, it’s a moot point. You won’t remember anything when you wake up.”

“Aw… why’d you have to remind me? This is the only place where I remember everything. I feel whole here, ya know…”

“You have my sympathy but it’s not like I can do anything about it.” He tilted his head. “By the way, ease up on the Holy Water.”

“So you know something about that?”

“I do, it’s the talk of everyone here. Regular people can drink it fine, but people like us… small amounts, only. Unless you want to be laughed at again.”

“Why was I laughed at in the first place?”

“Isn’t it obvious? Watching your soul wander around plastered out of it’s gourd was hilarious.”

“I wasn’t!”

“You were! You just couldn’t tell. It’s hard to tell without a bod—” Travis eyes suddenly focused on something behind her. “Time to wake up.”

“Already?! Come on, just a bit longer…!”

“Wake up.”

“But—”

“Caroline, wake up!”

——

“I don’t want to!”

Her body swung upward, hitting something hard on her head.

“GAH!” Two voice cried out in pain at the same time.

Holding her forehead, Caroline bent forward, eyes watering. Thio, who’d gotten smacked in the face, was crouched down holding his face, groaning.

“Why is your head so hard—” Came a muffled, pained voice.

Caroline groaned, sitting back up and tearily blinking. “I’m gonna have a lump…”

It took them both a few minutes to compose themselves. Thio’s face was still red from the smacking.

“I’m keeping an arm’s distance from you when ever I wake you up from now on. And, what were you dreaming about?”

“Mm?”

“You were muttering in your sleep like you were holding a conversation.”

“Was I? That’s weird.” She scratched her chin, silent for a moment. “I was talking to someone… I think… it was important…”

Her voice dwindled to a mutter, confused. The sense of urgency was there, but the reason behind it was fading fast. Concentrating hard, a single name floated to the top:

“Emperor… Travis…?”

“You dreamt about the Emperor?”

“I did?”

“…that’s what I’m asking?”

Thio stared at her perplexed expression and inwardly grimaced. He’d seen that look before and knew what it meant: she’d remembered something and then immediately forgotten it. The Seal at work, again. The desire to worry obsessively surged within him, but he viciously beat it down. Worrying fixed nothing and only made him feel powerless.

“Never mind, it doesn’t matter.” He leaned forward, somewhat gingerly, and kissed her on the head. He refused to have the time he spent with her be tainted by ugly feelings of anxiety when he could choose to be happy. “Sentra is back, they gave her a chunk of time off. She came over today to give you a checkup.”

Caroline’s eyes widened. “You mean she’s here right now?”

“Yes.”

“But it’s not even nine in the morning yet!”

“…you’re the only one who sleeps in this late, you bum…”

“Oy, oy! Don’t fight with me first thing!”

He poked her in the arm. “Picking fights? Who’s head almost crushed my face? I’m the victim here!”

Caroline’s hands reached out, one on each of his cheeks. She gave him an intense searching stare. He was about to ask what she was about when she pulled him close and kissed him.

He was still from shock for a moment and then started struggling. Finally pulling away, gasping, he cried out, “Morning breath, you evil woman!”

“Your face is perfectly fine.” She gave a cackling laugh, licking her lips. “And don’t pick fights you can’t win.”

———

Sentra was brought up to the bedroom by Metts once Caroline was finished getting ready.

“Good morning, Mrs. Caroline.” She greeted in a tired voice.

“Good morning Sen— yikes! What happened?!”

Sentra gave a pained smile. The response was expected. She had deep dark circles under her eyes, she’d lost weight, her hair was a mess, and her skin… frankly, she was spending a lot of effort not thinking about it. She looked awful.

Her situation wasn’t unique. Healers always had long hours to begin with, but the last few weeks the situation had gotten progressively worse. Unless a person had a physical ailment, they were being sent on field missions. Even old healers, some retired, had been recalled to fill in the gaps caused by the increased tempo. Everyone was suffering from some level of stress and exhaustion.

The Medical Section was starting to look a Mental Ward, and Sentra was one of it’s patients.

Sleep? What was that? If she got a solid five hours in she was doing well. A nice meal? Who had those? If it could be cooked and eaten in less than ten minutes, it was enough. Free time? That didn’t exist. There was only work, and more work.

“Burning the wick at both ends, I guess you could say. Haha… hah. Sorry if I look like a mess.” She answered apologetically but also purposefully vague about why.

“I-if it’s that bad, you didn’t have to come!” Caroline said worriedly. “It’s not like I’m dying. Go home and get some sleep. Your health is more impor—”

“It’s fine. I was suppose to do this check up two weeks ago but I wasn’t able to because of work. If I keep putting it off, it’ll never get done. I have all today free so it was the perfect time…” Seeing Caroline’s anxious look, she sighed. “…I’ll make sure to rest after this.”

“Good!”

“Worrying my patient… how the mighty Sentra has fallen…” The Healer gave a chuckle. “Well, let’s get started.”

She did a basic exam, both physical and magical. After she was done, she scribbled the results in a little black book she kept with her. She’d bought it expressly to keep track of Caroline’s health.

“Hm. Interesting. You’re recovering much faster than I calculated initially. I really don’t understand how your body works.” She informed them both, perplexed and facinated. “Your about an average adults strength at this point. Give yourself another two weeks and you’ll be strong enough for Adventurer’s Request. However, do easy jobs, like fetching or herb gathering. No monster hunting. If you see monsters, run.”

Sentra stared at Caroline in tired amazement. Thio had been leaving updates at her desk at work to keep her updated, so she knew about the visit to the Priest and even the conversation with the Dragon. Sentra believed there was something absolutely amazing going on with Caroline, which is why she’d forced herself over despite being exhausted. She had no idea what it was, but she wanted to be there when the barrel tipped over.

Caroline’s eyes rounded and she lifted her hands in victory. “Did you hear that Thio?! I can go back to work soon! Hurrah!”

Thio’s faced looked slightly cramped at the news, but he nodded. At least the custom enchanted jewelry he’d had made was already done and ready. He intended to give it to her as a gift, so he’d been waiting for the right moment. Apparently that would be sooner than he’d anticipated.

“Also…” Sentra’s tired eyes suddenly twinkled mischievously. She leaned forward and whispered something to Caroline. At her secretive behavior, Thio frowned slightly.

Caroline’s eyebrows shot up and she glanced at Thio. “Is that right?”

Sentra nodded, smirking. Caroline then whispered something back, causing Sentra to giggle and nod.

After that, Caroline rubbed her hands together and glanced at Thio with a look he’d never seen before. “Excellent.”

“What? What are you two talking about?”

The Healer cleared her throat, ignoring Thio completely. “Well, I’m done for today. I’ll try to come back for one more check up, but if I can’t make it, you should still be fine to go based off of today’s diagnosis.”

“Alright, thank you.” Caroline hesitated for a moment and then asked shyly. “Do you think… do you think we could… hang out… when you’re free, sometime? Maybe after you’ve rested?”

Sentra raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised, and then gave a gentle smile. “Of course. I’ve got the whole week off. How about I contact you in a few days time?”

“Really?!”

The Healer chuckled. “Yes, really. But I’ll take my leave for now, since I know you’ve got plans.”

When Sentra went to leave, Thio followed to walk her out, but the Healer stopped him.

“Stay here.”

“Hm?”

“It’s for your own good.” Her lips twitched. “And your welcome.”

He was left where he was standing, confused.

Metts was just outside pretending to be busy (so he could eavesdrop). When Sentra saw him, she walked over and said in a low voice:

“You’ve been instructed to make yourself scarce by the lady of the house.”

“I’ve been what?”

“Just for the day. Go out on the town, visit family, have a good time.”

“…why?”

“It’s a surprise for your Master. You’ll get a nock in compensation for the hassle and not asking any further questions.”

Metts straightened up. “A whole nock you say?”

“Yep.”

“And all I’ve got to do is stay out of the house?”

“Exactly.”

“When should I—?”

“Right now, you can escort me out if you like. You can come back in the morning.” She paused and snickered. “But not too early.”

“Yes ma’am!” Metts agreed, absolutely giddy for getting money for literally not working. This was the best job ever!

——

Thio stood in the room, somewhat baffled. Turning to Caroline he asked, “What were you two talking about?”

The woman herself had gotten up and walked lightly over to him.

She leaned against him, looking up at him with a glint in her eyes. “You know… I’m mostly better now.”

“Yes?” That was not an answer to his question.

“Sentra said that normal exercise now would be good for me.”

“…Oh??”

Seeing his confusion, she gave a little laugh. She reached up, both hands resting lightly on his chest. Head tilted to the side and up, her gaze practically burning into him.

He gulped and tried stepping away. Instead of backing off, she simply pressed further in, until they’d taken several steps and suddenly his back was against the wall.

“Hey Thio…”

“Y-yes?” His face had gone red and his body felt hot where she was touching.

“…did you know you’re unbelievably handsome?” Before he could reply, her hands had lowered to the bottom of his shirt, which she’d started to tug at rather impishly.

“Y-you, what are you d-doing?!”

“Hm? Didn’t I just explain?”

“No, you did not—Gah!” She’d gave a mighty pull upward, pulling his shirt off in one smooth movement. He was so shocked to be suddenly shirtless he just stood there stupidly, looking at Caroline in surprise.

Caroline let out a longing-filled sigh at the sight. He was a tall, spindly man. He lacked the normal muscle you found on men his age, making him look a little emaciated. But since he still trained his body regularly, what muscles he had were clearly visible. He had a very nice, but asymmetrical, six pack.

She reached out and ran her fingers across his abs, causing him to shudder.

Thio grabbed her hands, breathing rapidly and flushed down to his navel, he forced out through clenched teeth, “Don’t.. Joke… around!”

She tilted her head again and smiled, eyes narrowing slightly. “Who’s joking? And why are you acting innocent now of all times?”

He opened his mouth to reply but she’d used his grip on her hands to pull him down to her level and kiss him. It was not like the kisses before, which he now realized were innocent by comparison. She was doing things to his mouth that he didn’t know were possible.

When she finally let go, licking her lips as she did, he stared at her in wide eyed wonderment. That had been amazing. He was in the middle of wondering where she’d learned to kiss that way when she interrupted him.

“Thio.”

“W-what?”

“If we’re going to exercise properly, you need to take off my shirt too.”

“Oh.” And then: “OH.”

Seeing he finally understood what she was getting at, she gave a light laugh. For a man who’d been holding himself back for months, he was surprisingly innocent when it got right down to it. But she didn’t mind, it was adorable in it’s own way.

“And don’t forget to take off everything else while you’re at it.” She added teasingly as he reached for her shirt.

…

Much, much later, the moon reaching it’s zenith, Thio found himself laying on their bed, still awake. Caroline was sleeping, lips flushed red and her face tinted pink, next to him. A sliver of moonlight was casting a glow on her face, making her look almost ethereal.

They’d “exercised” all day and into the night, eating, laughing, and taking naps in-between. He’d been very surprised the first time, the second time he tried taking the lead, the third time they’d both “bossed” each other around, but the forth time she approached him with those hungry eyes, he could only stare at Caroline in blank astonishment.

Exactly when would she be satisfied?! He was, admittedly, not terribly educated in this area. He knew the basics, but that was it. Everything else had been “beer talk” among men, which was a dubious source of information. But one thing had been consistent: guys had the higher drive. That’s what everyone said. But after today, he didn’t believe it.

At some point, in a desperate attempt to get a break and also keep his pride as a man in tact, he’d had to think up excuses to slow her down. Food, sleep, bathing, reading, walking outside… literally ANYTHING he could think of to distract her. If she’d just go for an hour or two without chasing him down, he wouldn’t have had to resort to such childish tactics. Or at least that’s what he told himself.

Around midnight, she’d finally fallen asleep. He’d cast a very weak sleeping spell on her, just enough to knock her out for a full 8 hours. It wasn’t that he was proud of resorting to magic, but he needed to work in the morning. If she woke up in the middle of the night, he was pretty sure he’d be ravaged. And he needed sleep, dammit!

Even though he’d complained internally, every single time had been fun (even if later he’d been begrudging at the start). She had a marvelous touch, to the point of strangeness. It was like she knew every weak spot on his body; like she knew his body better than he did. Was that normal? He’d never been with anyone else, so he didn’t know.

The worst thing was he didn’t know her body anywhere near as well, making certain times awkward and causing him to wonder if he was lacking something fundamental. But when she’d seen his uncertainty, she’d patiently guided him along. There was not even a trace of shyness or embarrassment when she spoke, no matter how explicit. There was only affection, humor, and a seemingly unending desire for his touch.

During one of their more intense moments, he’d actually straight out asked her why she was so… good, at seemingly everything. She looked thoughtful for a moment but got distracted and didn’t respond until after they’d had their fun:

“Isn’t it just because I like you? I’ve been restraining myself you know… For a very long time… think about you all the time… every inch…” Her voice fell into a mutter, while her eyes lit with an invisible fire. Her hands began move across his body, as if hungry to touch him. “I love you so much, Thio, I need you… I want you…”

At the end of her nonsensical explanation, she’d given him a lust filled glance and jumped him. The cycle of the day repeating again.

After that, he decided not to ask again. Apparently the whole thought process triggered her.

The answer she’d given hadn’t made any sense though. It’s not as if he hadn’t thought of her as well, but for some reason she was just better at… well, everything. He couldn’t help thinking it had to do with her faulty memory. That she’d forgotten something, or someone, but her body still remembered on instinct.

The thought that there might be someone else disturbed him. She’d insisted there was no one but Thio, but who could say? Her memory was like a leaky bucket. What if there was another man, before him, and she just didn’t remember? What if she was just acting out those instincts on him, when it should be someone else?

But it was too late. Even if there was another man, it was too late. He’d never give her back. Even if she’d been married in some foreign country and had a husband waiting back at home. He wouldn’t let her go, he wouldn’t let someone else have her.

Though he’d cast magic on her so he could sleep, he wasn’t sleeping. His restless, insecure thoughts looped in on themselves like a tightening chain. He stared at her, as if seeking comfort in her resting form. He reached out and gently stroked her cheek with the back of his fingers. She looked so beautiful; innocent and fairy-like. Despite everything today, or maybe because of everything, she radiated an almost otherworldliness glow.

Was she even real? Was she really his? The parts of her that forgot things… did those parts of her love him? When all her memories came back, if they came back, would she still smile at him the same way she did now? Or would she change so much that her love for him died?

His heart squeezed uncomfortably as the weight of his doubt pressed on him. Reaching out, he drew her close to himself. Feeling her warm body and steady breathing made him feel a little better.

In a rare moment of clarity, hadn’t she said she couldn’t go home? He hadn’t understood most of what she’d talked about, but she’d definitely said she was staying and that she didn’t regret it. So it should be fine. She would stay with him no matter what.

Though he kept repeating those lines, the assurance wasn’t there. There was a fear he could not quite shake, that someday she’d leave him to a place he couldn’t follow. That one day, she would vanish from his life. And that fear created a black hole in his heart.

A greedy, cruel feeling surged within him: he wouldn’t let her leave him. No matter how strong she was, his magic was stronger. If it came down to it, he could trap her forever. He could even make her sleep like this, forever and unchanging, if he really wanted. There were so many different spell combinations he could use, that no one would know how to break. It would be so easy…

He tightened his grip around her, his embrace crushingly tight. Despite the sleep spell, a small whimper of pain escaped from her lips. Startled by his own behavior, he loosened his grip and began stroking her hair as if in apology.

A cold sweat broke out over his body. That had been a very dangerous line of thinking, very unhealthy. He’d always teased Caroline about being jealous and possessive, but in that moment he wondered if he might not be worse. At least she listened to his admonishments. If that dark feeling of his was any indication, he’d simply trap her before she had a chance to talk sense to him.

He’d need to be careful in the future. He didn’t want his love to be so heavy it crushed her.